Inner City Law Center
1309 East Seventh Street Los Angeles, CA 90021 (213) 891-2880 Walk Ins M-F, 8:30am-12pm You may also come to our walk-in clinic at the Weingart Access Center. The Weingart Access Center 506 S. Main St. Los Angeles, CA 90013 (213) 833-5024 Walk Ins M-Thursday, 8:30am - 4:30pm About Inner City Law Center Inner City Law Center has been serving the poorest and most vulnerable individuals and families in Los Angeles County since 1980. Founded on the basic principle that every human being should be treated with dignity and respect at all times, ICLC provides legal representation and social service advocacy to over 2,000 homeless and working poor clients each year. In the past five years, ICLC has recovered more than $10,000,000 for its low-income clients. As the only full-time provider of legal services headquartered on Skid Row, ICLC is widely recognized for its expertise in housing issues, as well as government and veterans’ benefits. General Practice Areas Habitability Advocacy and Litigation Inner City Law Center works with tenants to help them address substandard conditions in their buildings. ICLC receives referrals about substandard buildings from many sources, including other non-profit organizations, city agencies, and current and former clients. When the referral is appropriate and we have sufficient available resources, ICLC advocates and tenant organizers assess the level of problems, establish relationships with the tenants of these buildings, and help to identify and cultivate potential tenant leaders as well as potential clients. Before a case is filed, ICLC advocates and legal staff work with landlords to encourage them to voluntarily repair their buildings. Our longstanding relationships with the LA Housing Department and City Attorney’s Office are crucial to our ability to encourage landlords to bring their buildings up to code. When landlords fail to comply with their legal obligations to repair their buildings, ICLC’s legal team may file a lawsuit on behalf of the tenants in order to get the buildings repaired to compensate tenants who have suffered physically and emotionally from unsafe, unsanitary, and dangerous housing conditions. Eviction Prevention ICLC advocates and legal team assist individuals and families facing imminent eviction. As with our larger habitability cases, our staff first tries to amicably resolve the issue between the tenant and the landlord. Our advocacy staff is very familiar with the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance, and often these cases can be resolved favorably for our clients simply by educating the landlord about the requirements of the Ordinance. But, when necessary, the ICLC legal team will go to trial to defend our clients against unlawful evictions and to keep families in their homes, or to obtain legally mandated relocation assistance. The Rent Escrow Account Program (REAP) The Los Angeles Housing Department places certain sub-standard buildings into its Rent Escrow Account Program. By providing rent reductions and allowing tenants to pay this reduced rent into an escrow account which can only be used to make repairs or relocate tenants, REAP encourages landlords to repair their buildings. Under a contract with the city, ICLC advocates and tenant organizers visit properties in REAP to advise the tenants of their rights and to explain the benefits of participating in the program. Government Benefits Advocacy Advocates help clients identify the benefits to which they are entitled, complete paperwork, and navigate the bureaucratic maze required to enroll in benefits programs including Medicare, the state Healthy Families and Healthy Kids programs, or Social Security Disability Insurance. When they are eligible, we help our clients to apply for the appropriate program. Veterans Benefits Assistance It is estimated that approximately 25% of the homeless are veterans. Through our Homeless Veterans Project, ICLC helps veterans to apply for the health care and other benefits to which they are entitled because of their service. Category:Legal Category:Housing Issues Category:Public Benefits Category:Neighborhood-Undetermined Category:Veterans Category:Advocacy